Pre-Ming Narrative Literature

Chinese narrative literature before the Ming period (i.e., before 1368) comprised historical accounts, biographies, myth, ballads and narrative poetry, stories about gods, ghosts and immortals, records of anomalies and strange events, fictional tales based on everyday life, and historical fiction in chronicle format. Histories, biographies, narrative poetry, and myth are usually treated as separate categories, whereas more obviously fictional texts are grouped together under the rubric of xiaoshuo小說 (“sayings about minor events,” fictional writings). This article will deal with works deemed to be xiaoshuo in the Chinese tradition, or works that exhibit qualities similar to xiaoshuo. In the development of Chinese narrative, historical works are given primacy as the paradigmatic Chinese narrative from which fictional works gradually emerged. The influence of historiography on early fiction and the blurring of strict boundaries between the history and fiction is a constant theme in scholarship on pre-Ming xiaoshuo. Throughout the imperial period, fictional works suffered from a loss of prestige due to the attitudes of the ruling elite, whose views reflected the dictum of Confucius that records of matters of the Minor Way (xiaodao小道) are of limited worth and superior men (junzi君子) should not engage in their transmission. Nonetheless, there were men of the elite who composed xiaoshuo-type writings for a range of reasons. These included a wish to entertain their social circle, to display their literary versatility, to record anomalous or supernatural occurrences, or simply as a means of personal expression. The introduction of Buddhism into China from the 2nd century led to the large-scale translation of Buddhist sutras into Chinese, including richly imaginative stories associated with Indian Buddhism. Manuscripts associated with Buddhist preaching were increasingly read and copied by lay people, as evident in the treasure trove of manuscripts discovered at Dunhuang dating back to the 5th century. Dunhuang texts provide early evidence of the popularity of prosimetric narratives (where prose alternates with verse). This later developed into elaborate secular narratives such as the zhugongdiao諸宮調 (a form of storytelling employing narrative, dialogue, and set tunes). Buddhist preaching and text genres left an indelible mark on the development of fiction in China, greatly stimulating the production of texts in the vernacular as distinct from the classical style, and significantly expanding the repertoire of topics and themes. Pre-Ming xiaoshuo texts were reproduced in the Ming period and provided a vast repertoire of stories and themes drawn on repeatedly in fiction and drama throughout the imperial era.